A forend is the front part of a gun, which supports the barrel. Certain pistols and other guns have the forend at the underside of the barrel of the gun, and the forend may under some circumstances be held by a user's hand during firing or otherwise be contacted to support and aim the gun. These forend elements are normally formed of wood, and they may be secured to the barrel by a fastener or fasteners extending upwardly through the forend and connecting threadedly into a socket or sockets formed at the underside of the barrel. The upper portion of the forend may be shaped to contact and fit a lower portion of the barrel.
Forends are well known to the art and are described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,711,102, 5,634,289, 5,605,002, 5,596,830, 5,417,002, 5,225,611, 4,602,450, 5,502,238, 4,328,633, and the like. The entire disclosure of each of these United States patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
When a gun is fired, the laws of inertia dictate that there will be a recoil force; for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The recoil force present on firing large caliber or high pressure cartridges is often substantial, often exceeding 50 foot pounds. This recoil force can injure a shooters' hand.
Additionally, it often can cause the shooter to move the gun away from its intended target.
Attempts have been made to minimize and/or cushion this recoil. Thus, by way of illustration, U.S. Pat. No. 4,956,932 of Cupp describes a gun recoil pad which can be attached to the butt of a long gun. Thus, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,873 describes a hydraulic cushioning system which utilizes a gas-filled cylinder to cushion the recoil force.
It is an object of this invention to provide a forend assembly which is relatively simple, inexpensive, and effective.